Bandage
by Midori12
Summary: Source - Start of the game; Check - It has already been used many times. - Frisk; child abuse; for pronoun purposes, Frisk is referred to as male
**Bandage**

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The gash causes him to cringe. Grit teeth and clenched fists, tears ready to spill over. He holds back a yelp. The pain is bearable; in just one moment does it hurt immensely. But he just needs to apply a bandage and move along.

No one will console him over failing to please his father once more.

His mom turns a blind eye to the attack. She is again not the target of her husband's rage, so she wanders into the next room. The stench of alcohol is heavy on his breath; his father has chosen to hurt him once again. This time, he chooses the actual bottle he was just seen drinking. With drops of alcohol still leftover, the liquid touches the boy's gash, causing a small cry to exit his mouth. His father, luckily, does not pay it any mind. His father flings the rest of the handle onto the counter, pieces of glass flying every which way.

The boy takes this moment to flee to the bathroom. Years of this torment have taught him to bear the pain in order to escape. He grabs the bandages out of the cabinet and rushes for the front door. His shoes are already upon his feet, though one of the loose laces causes him to trip onto the porch. Scared that his father has heard his mistake, he jumps up quickly and stumbles away from his house, not once looking back.

The boy is far enough away to slow his pace. No one ever runs this far after him, so he takes a break to sit down next to a thick tree and check the damage.

The cut in his leg isn't as big as he thought. His father had lazily swung the bottle toward him, but because his aim was off managed to not completely slice the boy's leg open. The boy sighed, removing one of the large bandages from the package and applying it to the wound. Blood was seeping down his leg, but he ignores it.

He glances at his surroundings. The thicket of trees before him, grouped so tightly that the forest is shrouded in darkness even on a sunny day, was known as Ebott Forest. Parents alerted their children never to set foot in Ebott Forest, for many monsters lurked through the trees. The boy was never warned by his own parents, but he had heard the stories from other kids.

Whether he believed it or not…he didn't really care. This was the place he called a second home when he ran away from his first one. He never encountered anything scary here and it was probably just a way for parents to prevent their kids from having them get lost in the depths of the forest.

On the other side of the forest was said to lead to a dangerous mountain called Mt. Ebott, though he never actually traversed that far. His wound wasn't too severe, so he decides to head as far through the forest as he can.

The boy strolls for an undetermined amount of time through the trees, the darkness in the forest almost seeming to swallow him. The boy keeps a calm demeanor, for nature itself could never scare him.

What truly terrified him were people who could hurt him.

The trees suddenly begin to clear out, leading the boy to what appears to be the opposite side of the forest. He never doubted the existence of the mountain, actually content to see it here before him. He made it this far, might as well keep going. What was the point in going back home now? The later he showed back up, the better; his father would usually pass out early in the evening, leaving the boy to be free of the screams and pain for the rest of the night.

He climbs up the steep rock, the pain finally starting to set in on his leg. He makes a tight face, choosing to push through. A gash through his skin could never compare to torn tendons or shattered bones.

The boy grips an area where he can finally stand. After brushing off some dirt, he gazes upon an odd sight before him.

A giant crater that had to lead deeper into the mountain. This must have been why the mountain was considered dangerous.

Where did this lead? The darkness below threatens to consume anything that falls into its grasp. The boy tosses a heavy rock into the crater, but only the calm howling of the wind could be heard.

Regardless, anything that is thrown below will certainly not be coming back.

The boy gives it a thought before crouching down before the large opening. He had heard a few distant stories of kids who dared climbed Mt. Ebott but never returned. This crater was never mentioned, but it made sense if this was the reason. No wonder kids were warned about going through the forest; it was so they could never reach the mountain.

The kids who didn't come back, did they actually fall down here? Was it an accident, or…?

The boy places a hand over the bandage on his leg, some of the blood still pouring through staining his palm. He didn't have to put himself in those kids' shoes…because he was already _in_ their shoes.

He stands up and takes a deep breath.

Frisk jumps into the crater.

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 _hey, did you ever take off that gross bandage…?_


End file.
